Something that can bog down new writers – or prevent would-be new writers from ever setting pen to paper – is feeling like they’re expected to have “new” ideas, or it isn’t worth it. The fear of being called derivative or unoriginal is daunting. Let’s break down this insecurity in a few ways: theme, plot, setting, character, and style.
Continue reading “How Novel Does My Novel Need to Be?”Tag: writing-tips
Stages of Writing a Novel
Notes
For me, the first stage of writing a novel is the notes. This is where I accumulate every possible idea for what could be in the book. It’s important not to limit yourself, to tell yourself you can only write down “good” ideas. First, you must get through quite a lot of “bad” ideas before you get to the “good” ones.
And second – the reason I keep using quotation marks – is that ideas are only good or bad in context. If you’re writing a grimdark war novel filled with violence and nihilism, a romantic subplot filled with all the loving and tender dialogue you spent hours drafting might be a “bad” idea. But that doesn’t mean your work is wasted. When you get to the point of carving out ideas that don’t fit in the book, you don’t need to delete them – you can put them in a separate file to maybe use later. More on that in a minute.
Continue reading “Stages of Writing a Novel”A Definition of “Writing”
It’s easy to get bogged down and discouraged by the feeling that you’re not really “writing,” especially if what you’re doing doesn’t involve long hours typing on a keyboard. So, let’s talk about what we mean when we say that word.
To me, “writing” is an umbrella term covering numerous activities that all get me closer to publication. Some of these activities are more directly focused on that goal, but all are equally productive. So, from least to most tangible:
Continue reading “A Definition of “Writing””
Chronicler's Note: 